LIVE FROM MWL UNWRAPPED: Bertrand Rojat, CTIO at Orange Events and Paris Olympics 2024 (pictured), discussed the company’s preparations as the sole network provider for the huge sporting event, highlighting the role of private 5G in ensuring a seamless user experience. 

During a keynote, the Orange executive noted there is a lot of pressure involved in supplying the network infrastructure for the Summer Olympic Games, with the 2024 running set to be the first time a single operator has been trusted to power various communications services at the event, with the company tasked with connecting 120 official venues.

Despite the pressure, Rojat said the task presents “a great opportunity to provide efficient solutions to optimise all types of services” for the thousands of attendees and billions of viewers. 

Orange has experience, having provided infrastructure for cycling event The Tour de France for many years, along with the recent Rugby World Cup, which was held in the nation.

For the Olympics, Orange will provide services including “fibre, TV and media broadcast, and push-to-talk”, a technology it will deploy for the first time at a major sports tournament. 

“We will also deploy private 5G across a number of sites next year, including stadium and major arenas for the opening ceremony”, Rojat added. 

“What people are looking for is to be as close as possible to what is happening in the stadium. To do that, you need more cameras that are close to the athletes, private 5G can enable that. You can use a very small camera and still get very high quality for broadcasting.” 

Today, Rojat said almost 1,000 Orange staff are involved in preparing for the event, including programme managers and technicians.